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This is definitely one of the more twisted art projects we’ve heard in this young year: To demonstrate the potency of minor chords on the mood of a pop song, a mischief-maker operating under the handle Major Scaled (vimeo.com/majorscaledtv) has digitally transposed several well-known songs — The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” and R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” among them — into a major key. The effect is both remarkable and more than a little unsettling. Here, in place of a brooding rumination on romantic love, we’re left with something closer to a shiny, happy pop song. (bit.ly/106H2Ff )

They have exactly one EP to their name, but this new L.A. trio of Landon Jacobs, Jason Suwito and Hayden Coplen already has the dark and mysterious thing down pat. Musically, there’s a touch of Gold Panda (bit.ly/bTQWnF) in the quietly insistent synths and general midnight-of-the-soul feel, but while that act specializes in what could be soundtracks to imaginary films, Sir Sly deals unabashedly in melody and hooks, albeit with a large helping of atmosphere. In other words, dark, mysterious pop music. (soundcloud.com/sirsly )

8. METALLICA VS. BILLY JOEL

“For Whom the Piano Man Tolls”

This doesn’t always work, but it’s worth waiting for the parts that do. An improbable mash-up of the former’s slashing, mid-‘80s track “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (bit.ly/hgpvGx) and the latter’s jaunty, early-‘70s breakthrough, “Piano Man” (bit.ly/6DFVkZ), this manages to jam a 4/4-time vocal into a waltz-time backing track. The result will probably come off as an indecency for hardcore Metallica followers and a more-than-decent laugh for long-time Joel fans. (bit.ly/Uilnut )

7. ELIZA AND THE BEAR

“Upon the North”

Though this new London five-piece has drawn comparisons to Arcade Fire — they share a kind of joyful ambition, not to mention an affection for piling instruments on top of each other — their latest single feels like a glorious amalgamation of early Waterboys, the Freelance Whales’ first album (bit.ly/23KrxX) and, over the last minute or so, a welling nostalgia that recalls The Dream Academy’s “Life in a Northern Town” (bit.ly/zaJW). (elizaandthebear.com)

6. HUSKER DU

“Statues”

Before they became first a hardcore punk band and, eventually, a pioneer of alternative rock (back when that term actually denoted something), this Minnesota band was part of the sprawling post-punk movement that accommodated everyone from Gang Of Four and Public Image Ltd. to lesser lights such as Subway Sect and The Pop Group (bit.ly/3Ccgd), to whom this 32-year-old single — remastered and part of an expanded reissue of Husker Du’s first 7” single — bears a certain stylistic similarity. A slice of history that sounds even more vibrant now than it did the first time around. (bit.ly/VnJfM5 )

5. TOM ODELL

“I Knew You Were Trouble”

Cementing his status as a younger Chris Martin, this 22-year-old winner of the Brits Critics’ Choice award takes Taylor Swift’s dubstep-toe-dip (bit.ly/UGJiBv) and decelerates it into a full-bore, Coldplay-worthy ballad. It’s close enough in tone to Odell’s latest single, “Another Love” (bit.ly/WkS7km), to make you wonder what else he’s capable of, but that’s a question that can wait until he delivers a full album. (bit.ly/10nHfUE )

4. PRINCE

“Screwdriver”

As double entendres go, “I’m ur driver/Ur my screw” doesn’t even merit a PG-13 rating in 2013. In the context of Prince’s recent output, however, it feels like a return to an era when his lyrics were lascivious enough to feel like single entendres. Musically, this sounds like, if not something from another era then something that has no particular connection to this one, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And double entendre aside, it still seems innocent enough to make the leering thud of, say, Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” (bit.ly/7u1JLh) sound threatening by comparison. (20pr1nc3.com)

3. SIMIAN GHOST

“Be My Wife”

We’re beginning to think you could randomly pick any band from Sweden and they’d be able to take any song, no matter how upbeat or raucous, and make it sound like the most melancholy piece of music in the world. Which brings us to this David Bowie single (bit.ly/14QgNs) from Low, one of the more conventional moments on the first part of his “Berlin trilogy.” His version buzzed with electric guitars and assorted electronics. In the hands of this indie-pop outfit, however, it becomes a delicate, acoustic ballad, featuring ghostly vocals that sound like they were recorded in a cabin in the middle of a remote, wintry lake. (bit.ly/UVS9ke )

2. JUNIP

“Line of Fire”

So this is where Jose Gonzalez (bit.ly/Ew62) has been hanging out for the past couple of years. Working with fellow Swedes Tobias Winterkorn (keyboards) and childhood friend Elias Araya (drums), he’ll soon have put out as many group albums as solo ones (two). Oddly, this starts out sounding a bit like Sam Roberts’ “Brother Down” (bit.ly/9eO89F) before building to something considerably grander. (From Junip, out April 23, junip.net)

1. C2C

“The Beat”

These four turntable virtuosos from Nantes, France, honed their craft for 14 years before releasing their first album. The result of that rare career path is a conflicted status as both long-recognized world-class DJs and the winners of an award as best new European artist of 2013. Their technique involves recording bits of music, sampling them, and reconstituting the new bits as songs. Brit crit Paul Lester refers to their “jazzily dextrous chops,” which allow them to pull off a blend of soul, hip-hop and the atmospheric electronica that’s thriving in L.A. these days. Fans of DJ Shadow, The Avalanches and The Beastie Boys should all rejoice. (bit.ly/10zzj8s )

As kids-besting-adults showdowns go, this is as joyous a confrontation as you’re likely to see all year: What starts out with one masked, pink-haired child wandering into hostile territory ends up with an army of costumed supergirls challenging a bunch of scary-looking grown-ups to a dance-off. Corny, yes, but you’ll be grinning like a fool by the two-minute mark. (anthonyfurlong.tv/#/finally )

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